Thanksgiving 2008

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving day!

We enjoyed ourselves with extended family on Mike's side here in the midwest. Our group was so large that our gathering took place in the church gym near Karen & Richard's home. It was nice that all of the little kids had plenty of room to run around and lots of cousins, nieces and nephews to play with!

To all of you that we didn't see today: we missed you!

Here is a photo I took of Joel in his first grade play on Wednesday. They performed it several times that day for parents and other classrooms. Joel played the part of Squanto. When it came time at the end for the children to introduce themselves, Joel stumbled over his words a few times and said, "I Joel Wynkoop. I fayful fo' Mom and Dad." Wow! I was smiling ear to ear!

A few children later, the little girl who is holding his hands in this photo said, "My name is Payton. I'm thankful for my little friend named Joel."

I just about cried! Afterward I gave her a hug and a refridgerator magnet that I had in my pocket (with another little boy with Down syndrome pictured on it). That was all I had to give besides my thanks. She was pleased. It's amazing how children touch our lives.

I'm thankful for all of the many blessings that God has blessed me and my family with. For each sweet person who comes into our lives, for one reason or another. They are all God's children.

I am thankful for the continuing journey and adventure of life!

God bless you all.

Love,
Dolores

FHE 11-24-2008

Wilson wanted to make pizza, so we got the ingredients and made the "three degrees of pizza". Papa, Lora and Wilson built the pizzas. It was interesting to see! Wilson was very artistic with his toppings, insisting on one last pepperoni for the center to top it off. Sorry I don't have pictures, the pizzas were gone so fast I didn't have time to think of it!

We all sat around the table and after the blessing on the food, we ate the Telestial pizza which was cheese and green onion. Yum, Ella and Joel liked that one too. Next we had the Terrestrial pizza made by Wilson, with cheese, green onion, pepperoni, sausage and tomato. You get the idea, it goes on from there with the ultimate supreme pizza being the Celestial degree of pizza.

We talked about Heavenly Father's plan of salvation. It was fun to hear Wilson explain it. He did very well even though he is still learning English. We had a nice discussion about when Jesus will come again.

Then we sang "The Bear Necessities" chosen and led by Joel and had a closing prayer. Treat was a scoop of mint ice cream in a cup.

King James; 1 Corinthians 15:40-42.

Ella's Birthday photos

To continue the post below, here are photos of Ella who just celebrated 3 years! She is a joy to us, I just can't tell you how much fun this little girl is! Ella loves to dance and especially loves to imitate ballet when she sees it on the TV, lifting her feet and raising her arms high in the air. She has always been calmed by classical music, played loud. This helps a lot in the car! Ella also loves having Timmy close to her.

Ella was born November 23rd, 2005.
This is the first photo of Ella that we were given.
It was taken when she was still a preemie in the hospital.

Here's Ella getting a good look at Papa.
She was 7 weeks old when we met her.

Of course I was as thrilled as I could be to be given such a precious baby daughter!

This is our eldest daughter Milly, who met Ella on our trip to pick her up in their state.

Here is Ella at 1 year.

Here is Ella at 2 years.

And this is Ella at her 3 year birthday party!

It's especially sweet how she loves holding and carrying dollies around.

Finally, a little video of Ella and her birthday cake. We let her eat it with her fingers, not realizing what would happen next! ;o)

Happy Birthday to our little sweetie Ella Rose.

Love,
Mama and Papa

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lora and Ella share birthdate: Nov. 23

Lora Jean and Ella Rose were born on the same day, 18 years apart. When we were still waiting to hear who we would eventually adopt, I had a feeling that we would know something by Lora's birthday time. Well, that day came and passed... without any news. :o(

But a couple weeks later I had a call from a social worker that we had been chosen to adopt a tiny baby girl that had been born one month early... on Lora's birthday!!!

It's a tradition in our family that if a baby is born on one of the kids' birthdays, that sibling gets to help name the baby. I asked Lora what she would name her and she promptly replied, "Ella".

That was three years ago! It's hard to believe!

Lora had her birthday party on Saturday night and had a couple of friends and a lot of family over. We had Ella's party with family over on Sunday night. I'll try to show the birthday girls individually to do justice to each... it may be hard to limit the photos but I'll try!

I'm going to do photos of Lora first, and post Ella's in the morning.

Lora drawing before she learned to walk!

Papa holding Lora high. Having Lora in our family has always been like having Christmas every morning!

Mikelle ("Kelly"), Katie Curtis, Milly and Lora Jean. For the first couple of years Lora and Kelly's eyes were green and then they turned brown.

Our little Valentine. Always full of personality!

From top left: Mikelle, Lora. Bottom left: Laura Mitchell, Robin.
Lora, Mikelle and Robin are each about 16 months apart.

Lora with Joel on his first Christmas.

Celebrating Ella's adoption day. Lora is wonderful with kids!

Recent photo of Joel and Lora.

Lora opening present from Wilson (he wrapped it many times!).

Some of the group at Lora's birthday party.

Lora blowing out candles.

Happy birthday Lora, you are a wonder and a hope!!!

Love,
Mama and Papa

Timmy's better

Timmy's feeling better since my last post, I'm so glad. Just wanted you to know!

Long week

It has been a busy week! We left for the University Hospital at 6 am on Tuesday; Ella and Timmy went in for their surgeries right on time, First Ella then Tim.

The doctor came out to talk with us twice, sitting in a chair and telling us about Ella's ears. He said that it was not easy and it took longer than usual for him to put her ear tubes in because of her anatomy; her ear canals are extremely tiny and long. He said that she had a lot of thick fluid with the viscosity of egg whites in her middle ears which they suctioned out. The doctor said he had to adapt the T-tubes by cutting bits off of them to make them fit. He said the other tubes placed in July were gone. We agreed that since this seems to be an ongoing problem for Ella that we will need to continue to monitor her hearing... as we have been. She is scheduled for another ABR, this time at the University Hospital on December 5th.

As I understand it, Timmy had one tube left but it was removed and a new tube was placed in his other ear where there was none.
The hope is that he will end up with a hole in each ear that will allow for natural drainage when necessary, until he is older. That's how Joel's ears are now, last I heard. Come to think of it, the doctor didn't seem to have any concerns over Joel's ears at the appointment on Monday, we mostly discussed having Joel's large tonsils and adenoids out and how to do that with Coumadin involved...still working on connecting him with Joel's cardiologist who is on vacation this week.

Just as we were checking out of the hospital Mike was attempting to tube feed Timmy and it wouldn't go down. Finally it did. But then when Mike took the extension tube out of the button, the contents of Tim's stomach began spilling freely everywhere-- obviously the stop-flow mechanism inside the g-button was broken. The nurse gathered something to sop it up and then we plugged the extension tube back into the g-button to stop the flow and the nurse wrapped it onto his belly with some bright green stretchy material. We figured out that the little soft plastic outer stopper on the g-button closure flap had broken off and had been pushed down through the g-button, thus the difficulty getting the PediaSure to go down the tube and then the broken interior stop-flow.

Here we were at a hospital already but needing to go to another hospital because of his other doctor's office being there... so instead of going directly home we had to drive three hours to have the broken g-button removed (as it's not the water-bubble type--Timmy's stomach acid eats through those too quickly) with a special tool and replaced with a temporary Mic-key until a new Bard could be ordered and received in office.

Well, Timmy didn't like it, no surprise! Who would? And yes, the small stopper was inside the "basket" at the end of the g-button.

The problem was, the Mickey was a 14 French and the Bard removed had been an 18 French (diameter of tube going through the skin and into the stomach). 18 French is the smallest Bard makes, but like the doctor said (who came in to chat with us) it's like a freight train in such a small boy. But, the other non-bubble type of g-button had only lasted in Tim for 24 hours and he pulled it out and he was going through the Mickeys too fast.

They also cauterized Tim's stoma while they were at it, with a silver nitrate q-stick. His stoma bled and leaked like crazy the next couple of days and the stomach acid was burning his skin. We were giving him OTC pain reliever but as you can imagine, school just didn't work out this week.

Wednesday was Ella's IEP with EI providers and her new school's team. That was actually a fairly fun meeting this time and I'm very encouraged that Ella will receive speech and hearing therapies in preschool beginning December 1st. They will use both sign and try picture exchange with her as communication is her greatest need. I have noticed her mimicking people's hand gestures more and more and she uses several signs at home, including: "more", "all done", "baby" and her own signs for "bottle" and "pick up the baby" (meaning herself). Yes, we're still working on getting rid of the bottle.:o(

Ella's Early Intervention PT saw her professionally for the last time on Wednesday afternoon. Her developmental therapist saw her for the last time today. Her speech therapist came for the last time a while ago. It's hard to believe we've come to the end of a very long-term working relationship with these women after nearly 8 years of having them in our home each week. Sue and Krista have been with us the whole time, with each of our youngest three! And Cheri has been with us at least half of that time. Each of these ladies are really great at what they do. I consider them some of my best friends and hope to stay in touch.

So many other things going on... Working to keep our foster license up-to-date... photos for the Angel Tree ornaments... attending book club... drawing floor plans for a house... washing, drying, folding mountains of laundry... hoping to adopt one last time... giving meds, feeding kids and washing dishes... changing and bathing children... wondering about Christmas... scheduling lots of appointments... keeping in touch with loved ones, praying for everyone and trying to plan more birthday parties for this weekend.

Did I miss anything? Oh yeah. Thursday Lora and I drove Timmy back to the doctor's office and the nurses removed the temporary Mickey button and then used the special tool to put the new Bard button in. They also cauterized his stoma again and it hurt when they put the new button in. Poor little guy!! It's still pretty sore today so I didn't try sending him back to school. His skin should heal some this weekend if he'll leave it alone. He's a sweet little guy and so loveable. It's hard to see my baby have troubles like this!

FHE 11-17-08

Once again, we spent most of our day at the University hospital. Mike and I and Gabe took Joel and Timmy with us. Ella and Timmy are now scheduled for ear tubes tomorrow morning! We'll need to be there early. Joel needs his tonsils and adenoids out but we have to talk with his cardiologist about that first because Joel is on blood thinners for his artificial heart valve.

As we finally got into the elevator to the parking garage (after 5 1/2 hours in the hospital at various stages of pre-op)there were two other ladies with us, talking about a cell-phone conversation. Joel walked up to them and smiling sweetly said, "Excuse me. Excuse me!" The ladies smiled back and said, "Yes?" and Joel said, "That is dumb!"

Of course we were surprised and embarrassed and everybody laughed (shouldn't have!)-- I didn't even know he knew that word! What movie is that in? He'd just seen the last half of "Madagascar" in a waiting room, is it in there? We told him, "Joel, Excuse me is nice (we taught him that) but dumb is not nice." We just don't know what he's going to say next. He's putting sentences together pretty well these days!

I guess Family Home Evening was really last night when we had the birthday party. :o)

Gabriel's Birthday!

Gabriel's birthday is November 16th. Here are some photos of Gabe over the years. When he was little we called him "Gibby". He has green eyes and deep dimples when he grins. We nearly lost him to spinal meningitis when he was 8 months old. He was given a round of a new experimental treatment at Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon and survived the illness well. Others we knew including my cousin, had died from meningitis previously.

Here is Gabriel with his little brother Joel, who was about 5 months old at the time of this photo.





When Gabe was 18 he was in a bicycle accident that broke three of his vertebrae in the thoracic area of his spine. The neurosurgeon said it was a miracle he wasn't paralyzed! Two of the vertebrae were broken diagonally all the way through and the third was crushed. Gabe had two titanium L-shaped rods in his back for a year and spent that summer in a hot brace, but he walked for graduation just a few weeks after the accident!

We believe he was granted these miracles for a reason.

I remember finding Gabriel on his knees during his recovery period, praying and thanking Heavenly Father for this blessing. Gabe told me afterward that he had lots of ideas of ways to help people because of his experience.

I hope that one day he will be in a position to do that.

Gabriel is an artist and an inventor. He is very sweet and gentle to his younger siblings. Here is a photo of Gabe and Ella napping on the sofa after church today.

We had birthday cake at Janina's house tonight for both Gabriel and Janina. She made marble cake with whipped cream and Heath bars on top.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIEL!!!

Love,
Mama and Papa

Today is Janina's Birthday!

Two of these photos of Janina were taken today, on her birthday.




This photo is Milly holding her 10 lb. 1 oz newborn baby sister Janina.


Because they are only 16 months apart in age, they are often pictured together and are still close.

Janina has dark hair and green eyes, Milly is blonde with blue eyes. These are a few I have in my computer files.

I was pregnant with Katie in the photo where I'm reading to the girls. How the years fly by!

Always an artist and a singer, Janina is now also a wonderful wife and mommy. We're very proud of the way she cares for the three children she has been blessed with since their births through foster care, adoption and birth. Janina is a courageous, patient and loving mother to a 3-year-old with special needs and two 2-year-olds!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANINA!

You're looking FABULOUS honey!

Love,
Mama and Papa

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day and I want to say how grateful I am for the men and women who are or have been in the military service and have given of themselves to maintain or obtain freedom for people of our nation and others.

My dad and Mike's dad each served in the Navy. Our grandfathers served in the military. I now have a young nephew who is serving in the Navy. We're proud of all of our servicemen and women and their families! Many thanks you to all of you!

Wilson update

Just a quick note to say that Wilson (our exchange student from Hong Kong) seems to have turned a corner this week. He seems to be more comfortable and at home. There was a marked difference noticed by all of us on Sunday. We are seeing a lot more of his personality now. Gabe and Lora are able to tease with him and he teases back. There is more laughing and singing going on. The 14th of November marks three of the nine months he will be with us.

Marching band season ended and now he will be in wind symphony, playing piano. Here is a photo taken last month of Wilson in his marching band uniform.

FHE 11-10-08

Those who were present: Papa, Mama, Gabe, Lora, Wilson, Joel, Timmy, Ella, Elder Ward and Elder Delavoye. For supper we had a turkey that Papa roasted on his outdoor rotisserie grill (ran out of propane: finished roasting it for an hour in the oven while we played UNO) and stuffing, white rice with gravy, mashed squash with brown sugar and marshmallows. Graff joined us for a quick plate and was gone again. We had pumpkin bars with chocolate frosting for dessert.

After supper, we had an opening prayer and Gabe taught the lesson which he taught for Sunday School, taken from the scriptures and having the meaning of this one: "...that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent."

We had a really nice discussion. I bore witness of an experience I had where I was blessed to feel the love Jesus has for me and how great it would be if we each could feel the love that He has for each person and share that with all people.

The little children moved in and out, sitting next to us (except Ella who was sleeping), Joel having bonded with Elder Ward because he understands Joel's quotes from movies and Timmy getting close and watching everything Elder Delavoye read from the scriptures.

After closing prayer we said goodbye to the missionaries.

Wilson stayed up to sing with music on the computer while I cleaned up the kitchen a bit. He played some favorites by Michael Buble, including one with lyrics that say, "I wanna go home!" I asked him if he really wants to go home and he said, "No! I just always listen to this in Hong Kong, it's beautiful song." He also played one sung by Harry Connick Jr, "Save the Last Dance For Me". I asked him to find Joel's favorite from Polar Express, "When Christmas Comes to Town", which he did and then Joel, Wilson and I sang it together. Joel went happily up to bed, hand in hand with me after that. Wilson remained for a while longer, singing so loudly that I could still hear him when I fell asleep! ;o)

Joel update

Joel has had a growth spurt and actually grew two sizes since school started! WOW! For the first time in his life he is wearing the same size as his age. We had to buy him some new clothes Saturday and actually had him try things on in the fitting rooms (which he hated). We found that he is wearing size 7 regular pants and size 6/7 shirts. Of course the inseams will have to be shortened a LOT and the sleeves rolled up, but that's okay.

The other day Joel was cuddling with Robin on the couch and she was explaining to him about the order of upcoming birthdays and holidays. She said, "First, Nina's birthday. Then, Gabe's birthday. Then, Lora and Ella's birthday. Then, Thanksgiving! Remember Thanksgiving, Joel? We go to Aunt Karen's house and eat turkey? It's so much fun to play with the cousins!"

"Mada'scar 2!" Joel said, hoping to watch that movie (that he hasn't seen yet) on Uncle Richard's TV.

"Okay, maybe' Robin continued. "Then after Thanksgiving comes Christmas! Oh, Christmas, Joel! We love Christmas with the Christmas tree and Baby Jesus and stockings and lights!"

"Chwimmas!" agreed Joel.

"And then New Years: 'Happy New Year!' with crackers and cheese and games," Robin kept going. "And after New Years comes..... Joel's birthday! Hurray! You will be 8 years old on your birthday, Joel! We'll sing "Happy Birthday" to you and blow out the candles!"

(Joel loved that part).

"Then," smiled Robin, "after Joel's birthday we have Valentine's Day and then Papa's birthday and Kelly's birthday and St. Patricks Day--"

"And then SpongeBob's birfday!" said Joel.

We laughed and laughed! (You have to understand that SpongeBob's best friend is a starfish named Patrick.)

I love this kid!

Sisters?

One of these photos is of a little girl that is not Ella. Can you tell which one? This little angel has Down syndrome and is waiting for a family. She has touched my heart and you can easily see why! Please see her and other international waiting angels by clicking on the Angel Tree graphic at top right.

"Families Take a Leap of Love"

Read the article listed by the above title in the Washington Post!
To read it, copy and paste the link below into your browser, taking out any spaces:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2008/11/08/AR2008110801152.html?sub=new

NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH!!! Read about more families like ours by clicking on the T-21 graphic below or on my sidebar.


Grab This Button

Ella's Mirror Friend

You'll have to forgive me for posting all of these photos, but she's growing so fast and is just so expressive and irresistible! Robin took these and the photos of Ella in her coat today.